PhotoScapes: Standing on thin ice

February 27, 2017

3 minute read

How are Canada’s great white giants of the North handling a decline in sea ice? We’re working hard to find out.

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The Polar Bear is probably one of the most prominent species that comes to mind when we think of Arctic animals. Living in the frigid great white North, these beautiful beasts rely on sea ice as a platform for hunting, travelling and mating.

On Thin Ice

Polar Bears prefer to live in areas near sea ice to catch their favourite prey, ringed seals. Because of this, some subpopulations face long-term threats due to climate change. As the water gets warmer each year, the ice shrinks, making it difficult for Polar Bears to hunt enough seals to survive.

The summer seasons are getting longer as Arctic temperatures rise, forcing the Polar Bear to fast for longer periods of time. The longer summer seasons also leave less time for the Polar Bears to store fat and prepare for the fast they must endure.

The early break up of sea ice means that Polar Bears have less time to hunt seals and build up their fat stores, causing bears to come ashore in poorer condition. Instead, they move inland where they remain less active, living off the fat they’ve stored.

When the bears do search for food, most try to snatch carcasses, but females with cubs might snack on grasses and berries to get by. However, the more Polar Bears move inland, the more these great white bears increase their chances of becoming problematic for humans.

Surviving the Arctic

Polar Bears are wonderfully adapted to their Arctic surroundings. Their thick winter coats, with glossy guard hairs and dense underfur, and the thick layer of fat beneath their skin protect them against the cold. Probably the most significant adaptation of polar bears to the uncertainties of food availability in the Arctic is their ability to slow down their metabolism to conserve energy at any time of year.

Did you know that cubs stick close to their mothers for two and a half years? As a result, female Polar Bears only have new litters every three years. Since Polar Bears breed at a slow rate, it’s crucial that the cubs survive.

As individuals, we can help Polar Bears by reducing our consumption of greenhouse-emitting gases and household pollution. Each time we use energy, small amounts of carbon are emitted, either by our furnaces or through power plants. Reducing energy usage in the home, and cutting back on the amount we drive, can help reduce pollution.